Takimaru Tales (Working Title)
by TheCaramelSecrets
Summary: (I can't think of a title yet) The adventures of Takimaru, everyone's famous cursed Gourmet Knight and his partner, a literal spitfire. Both struggle with the curses laid upon them, and both prepare for the fight of all fights- the Gourmet Bowl! The main character (my OC) remains unnamed, so please comment your ideas!
1. Chapter 1

**Yo! This story stars our favourite Gourmet Knight, Takimaru. I wanted to write a Gourmet Adventure about one of the known Gourmet Hunters, but Toriko is too complex/simple-minded, Zombie *It's Zonge!* is an idiot, Match is too mysterious, and the others didn't really appeal to me. So I settled on the kind, slightly naïve Takimaru- I love him! Anyways, we begin ~Caramelly**

I met him in the summer. Or maybe it was spring. Or was it winter? Oh well, it doesn't really matter.

We were eight- or nine, or was it seven? - years old, and we both lived in a town on the edge of the Gourmet World. Despite the fact that we lived within walking distance of hell itself, the village itself was incredibly boring. Everything about it was boring. The food was a Gourmet Hunter's nightmare: hardly anything in the area had any capture level over 1. Because the terrain was horrible for growing any sort of delicate plant, we had no spices. We had rock salt, and that was just about it.

Why didn't we go somewhere else? I'm not completely sure. I guess some people like simplicity. In fact, I know they do. I also know that I don't.

So, anyways, even though we lived in the same village, I didn't talk to Takimaru until we were both eight or so. We saw each other every so often, but we didn't talk. Kids are like that.

Actually, it took us a while to talk even after we met. Mostly because I was too busy saving his life to chat. Oops, ahead of myself.

Okay, where do I start? Um… Oh! Well, it was a clear day…

"Mom! I'm going out looking for ingredients!" My mom just shook her head at me, and rolled her eyes. Her hair, which was coppery like mine, fell out of her loose bun a little, but she didn't notice.

"Again? You won't find anything new. There's nothing wrong with my food the way it is, but if you insist-" I didn't catch the last part. I was already gone.

I dashed straight towards the cliff, the one that looked out over a gorge half a mile wide, which divided us from the Gourmet World. Sometimes, if I were lucky, there would be some herbs or spices growing out of the cracks in the rock. Most of the time, I was not lucky.

"Yes! I'm lucky this time," I shouted a little too loud. There was a sprig of Stew Parsley wedged into a crevice about a foot down from the edge. Stew Parsley, according to my research from cookbooks and television, could make even plain rice feel, look and most importantly taste like first-class curry. Mom could use that.

"Whoa!" I shouted a little too loudly again. Just below the Stew Parsley was something even better. Obviously, a raptor from the gorge had made a catch, but had been eaten by something else before it could get back to its nest with the meat.

How did I know all that? Maybe from the bird-skeleton inside another skeleton clutching a tiny skeleton in its skeleton jaws, but that's just a wild guess. The interesting part of my find was that the raptor was a Stockondor, whose bones, when boiled produced broth that was so incredibly concentrated that a single drop can turn a swimming pool into chicken soup.

"So, how're ya gonna get it?"

I jumped up, hitting my head on a rock. Whirling towards the source of the voice, something came flying up and impacted my poor cranium yet again. Out of reflex, I pushed the object away; only noticing what it was as it flew over the edge of the cliff.

It was a black-haired boy. Takimaru.

He yelped as he went flying, but hit his head on a rock before he could scream. I don't know if the hit knocked him out or just stunned him, but the hit that he took as he fell off the edge of the cliff definitely sent him to lalaland. The thunk that his head made was so loud that I think it might have been heard in the village.

He fell straight down the side, which I suppose was a good thing because he managed to land on the ledge with the Stew Parsley and the Stockondor bones. Is it bad that the first thought I had was '_He better not knock my ingredients down!_'?

"Hey," I called, trying to get him to wake up, "are you alright?" Seeing as he didn't respond, it seems he was not. Not only that, but he was bleeding quite a bit onto the rocks beneath his head. Was there time to make it back to the village for help?

I didn't want to risk it. I could probably rescue him fine by myself. Not to brag, but I was one hell of a rock climber, even when I was little. I could have easily transported all three skeletons and the Stew Parsley back to the village, but adding a person would complicate it a little.

I scrambled down to the thin ledge, stumbling a little when a rock came loose beneath my slipper. I trod carefully around the bones- stuffing a few into my pant pockets- to get to the prone figure. He wasn't exactly small, but I could probably carry him.

Maneuvering alongside him, I squatted down to pick him up and sling him over my shoulder when I remembered something that my mom once told me. _Anyone who hits their head could have a concussion, so keep them awake. Be careful moving them, just in case they hurt their spine! _

That was a problem, seeing as he was out cold. And being careful with his back? Yeah, like that was easy on a cliff face. I decided to risk it.

"Up ya go, sack of potatoes boy," I murmured as I heaved him somewhat carefully onto my back. Taking it one step at a time, I scaled up the sheer cliff face for about three feet, to the next ledge. Taking a second to catch my breath, I started climbing again, trying to shift Takimaru's head in towards my neck so I could keep it still.

Adjusting his head was harder than I thought, and in the split second when I lost my focus I forgot about the rock that had come loose during my descent.

So I fell.

Luckily for me, we both landed back on the ledge that Takimaru had ever so gracefully body slammed a while earlier. I, unfortunately, was knocked unconscious along with sleeping Taki. Things got kind of fuzzy from that point on.

Long story short, we were rescued by my mom and some other villagers who followed me out to the cliffs after I didn't return on time. I woke up in bed with an ice pack and a raging headache. I didn't even see Takimaru until the next day.

And that's when this gets interesting.

**What do you think? Don't tell me. Actually, do. It seems to be off-season for writers right now- kinda weird. I think the season is starting up again. Whatevs. Oh, wow, I haven't named her yet. I can't think of anything. Comment me some ideas?**


	2. Chapter 2

**I DON'T LIKE WRITING THIS PART. So I won't.**

So I woke up- I think I said that part. Obviously, being as kind and amazing as I am, I wanted to make sure that the kid I had so valiantly rescued was also okay. I could have just asked my mom, but that was cheating.

I figured that it would be easiest to go door-to-door until I found his house. I had an idea of where it was. Or, somewhat of an idea. I knew he lived in a house. That was enough.

I found him in a house right near the cliff after searching for less than two hours. I was going to knock, but I was afraid the house might fall down. It looked very shabby. The door was crooked and splintered, and there was no glass in the windows. I hesitated a moment, and in that moment the door opened into my face.

It was Takimaru, of course. He had a knack for jumping out at me when I didn't expect it.

"You!" he yelled, "What are you doing here?"

I flushed bright red, and glared at him.

"I only came to check whether you were dead or not! Unfortunately, you're still kicking."

"I'll show you kicking!" He raised a leg to jab me, but I grabbed his knee and toppled him. We started to tussle in the dirt, only to end up groaning and holding our unhealed head wounds, which our fight had reopened.

"Idiot," I moaned and spitefully as I could in his direction, "are you too banged up to throw a punch? You hit like a baby."

"You couldn't hit a Growlrus with a tank, dummy," he retorted. It didn't sound like he was really up to arguing either. I couldn't help it when a giggle burst through my lips.

That started it. We both started to guffaw and roll around, laughing until tears ran down our faces. Why were we laughing? I have no idea. It just happened.

We ended up groaning and holding our heads again, which was our own dang fault of course. We laughed a little more, and then just lay down on the grass. Once again, it just felt like that was what the universe intended us to do.

We talked for a long time. We didn't say anything especially important- just chatted, getting to know each other. It went more or less like this:

"I really love it when my mom makes me stew when I'm sick."

"Lucky. Our house doesn't have a stove."

"What do you use?"

"We just eat cold stuff. Speaking of which, have you ever tried snow taffy?"

"No, what's it like?"

It went on and on until the sun had dipped below the horizon. Takimaru reluctantly got up to go, looking dejectedly back at his ramshackle house. On a whim, I told him to wait. Digging into my pack, I pulled out a wriggling, fat stick about half a foot long.

Takimaru saw it and gasped in appreciation.

"Is that a Leech Lighter? They say that it eats and stores fire in its belly that stays lit for weeks!" I handed it to him and dug back into my pack, pointedly avoiding his curious gaze. I pulled out the second object, this one a balloon-shaped organism with tons of tentacles a long, tubular snout. Takimaru saw it and almost dropped the Leech Lighter.

"No way! You have a Frigisquid! That can squirt preserving ink at an ingredient and keep it cold and fresh for over a month! Where did you get these?" I shuffled my feet in embarrassment.

"My dad brought them in for me on his visiting day. He just happened to find them on sale." That wasn't exactly true, as my dad had saved up for weeks to buy them, but I honestly didn't use them much. I figured that Takimaru could use them a lot better.

"I don't use them, so… They're yours. Take them without a big hassle already, because I'm not taking them back." I blinked in surprise when I saw two trails of tears running down his cheeks.

"Thank you…" Those two words held so much emotion in them that I was a little caught off guard.

"Whatever. So, want some hot food?"


End file.
